Police: ‘Plaid’ bandit leaves bank on skateboard with no money

May 11, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

1 of 7

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

1 of 7

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

1 of 7

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

1 of 7

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

1 of 7

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

1 of 7

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

Police are searching for a man who skateboarded away from an attempted bank robbery on Friday. Authorities suspect him of being the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who has robbed at least seven Orange County banks, including hold-ups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo. COURTESY OF THE BREA POLICE DEPARTMENT

YORBA LINDA – Police seek a serial bank robber believed to have skateboarded from the scene of an unsuccessful holdup Friday morning.

Officers shortly after 11:15 a.m. responded to reports of an attempted bank robbery at a Wells Fargo branch in the 20300 block of Yorba Linda Boulevard, Lt. Darrin Devereux said.

A man handed an employee a demand note, Devereux said, and then fled when the teller ducked behind a counter. No money was stolen, and no injuries were reported.

The would-be robber was last seen fleeing the bank on a skateboard, Devereux said. Authorities described him as a white man in his late 20s or early 30s with a medium build and a brown goatee who was wearing black, thick-framed glasses, a baseball cap and a black, hooded sweatshirt during the robbery.

Authorities believe the man is the "Gone Plaid Bandit," who is responsible for seven previous bank robberies in Orange County, including holdups in Yorba Linda, Irvine, Anaheim Hills and Mission Viejo.

The "Gone Plaid Bandit," who earned his nickname by wearing plaid during some of the robberies, used notes during the previous incidents, although he was seen armed with a knife during at least one Irvine robbery and once claimed to have been armed with a gun.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the attempted robbery to call Brea investigators at 714-990-7625.

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